Well, season one of Discovery has officially come to a close.
Overall, for the episode itself, I have to admit I was a bit underwhelmed. The Klingon War closes by giving L'Rell a bomb she can use to blow up her homeworld if the Klingons don't follow her lead. She is much more interested in uniting the Klingon people than she is in waging a war with the Federation, but the way it closes out just seems a little too clean. However, it does give some cover for "negotiations breaking down" in "Errand of Mercy".
I'm sad to see Tyler go, but given the direction his character too, it's doubtful he'd be able to continue on Discovery as a Starfleet officer like Burnham can. I do hope we see him again, because I see a lot of potential for him.
Letting Georgiou go... Tough call in a bad situation but I still think it is risky. We never actually see her return to the mirror universe, so maybe she'll end up becoming Discovery's Q? Discovery's Shran? Discovery's Dukat? There's a lot of angles they can work with her.
And then of course, the moment we've all known was coming for years. The USS Enterprise NCC-1701 herself, in the prime timeline, reimagined for 2018. Honestly, it really could have been much, much worse. In fact, I'll dare say it actually doesn't look bad at all. As far as the changes go, it looks like they're limited to making the ship a little more rugged and realistic looking, and less 60s. The shape is the same. The deflector, lower sensor dome, and nacelle bussards are easily recognizable. The way the show lights up its space scenes (please, PLEASE more natural lighting for season two) makes it hard to get a read on the hull - it's definitely more metallic but it's impossible to get a good eye at the coloring, but from what I CAN see it seems mostly ok. The nacelle struts, however, are much more reminiscent of the TMP Enterprise than the TOS one, and that's one think I'm not too keen on. Still, we knew this visual reboot was coming, and I think the changes strike a good balance between respecting the original and making the ship work with today's production values.
As for season one as a whole, I think it had its ups and downs like any show does in its first year, but for the most part was good on its own merits. I still despise the Klingon redesign... Really, I hate the new Klingon look with a passion, especially since ENT: "Affliction" and "Divergence" gave us not just an explanation for the smooth-headed Klingons, but also provided fertile story telling opportunities (how do the Augment Klingons fit in traditional Klingon society? Do they take power? Are they cannon-fodder?). In the end though, I for one am happy to have new Trek after 12 years, and am anxiously awaiting season two.
